hadn’t realized it when she’d come into my care. “Anyway, I thought I’d give you a call while she’s
sleeping and touch base about your proposition. Oh, and to let you know Corey’s not going to be in
tonight. I was probably overstepping when I told him to not worry about it, but I figured you’d
understand.”
“Thank you for letting me know.” Jack sounded more frustrated than anything, and I hoped we
weren’t getting off on the wrong foot. “Normally, I’d say he needs to talk to Sam about that but again,
if you’re taking care of his kid, I’m assuming he’s desperate.”
“Yeah, laugh it up,” I scoffed. “And you should know he gave me hell when I told him I’d tell you.
He’s stubborn as—well, you know how he can be. He doesn’t like accepting help, but I’ve pretty
much forced it on him. He’s trying to find someone to come in at the other job so he can leave, and I
wanted to help.”
“Because you’re a meddling Daddy and couldn’t help yourself,” he quipped. My gaze darted to
the rearview mirror, wanting to make sure Willow wasn’t awake. The last thing I needed was her
hearing anything about that and asking questions. Jack chuckled when I didn’t have a quick comeback.
“You have me on speaker, don’t you?”
“Um, yeah, because we’re in the car,” I informed him. “I’m taking Willow to see Corey at work
so he can see that she’s okay. And before you even ask, no, I’m not explaining anything more to you.”
“Fair enough,” Jack conceded. “But know it’s going to be a while before you live down this
multi-generational papa bear moment. Domestic life is good for you. So, if you’re already telling my
employees it’s okay to take the night off, is it safe to assume you’re going to be joining us?”
“Yeah, Corey and I talked about it last night. It’s somewhat ironic that we’re in this situation so
soon after I told him it wouldn’t change anything at work, but as long as no one gives either of us a
hard time, I think it’d be good for me to start building a little structure in my life,” I admitted. Jack
and I had been friends long enough I knew he’d understand what I wasn’t saying. “I’d planned to sit
down and chat a bit about plans for the back deck tonight, but obviously that’s not going to happen.”
“We’ve got time,” he reassured me. “I’m just glad I can tell Sam he doesn’t have to worry about
both sides anymore. That kid’s going to burn out if he doesn’t slow down.”
“Seems you’ve built yourself a whole crew of men with that problem,” I teased as I pulled into
the mall parking lot. Normally, I would park in the first available stall I found, but I didn’t want to
have Willow out in the cool morning any longer than necessary, so I drove around, waiting for
